Our Round-the-World adventure

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

Thank you for posting! Ive added a few spots to my own list.

 

[tacototheworld]

Namibia - Part 2

An example of tourism done well, visitors to Twyfelfontein are greeted at a simple museum site and gathered into small groups for a 45 minute guided walk. The site has been inhabited for 6,000 years, used as a site of worship first by hunter-gatherers and later by Khoikhoi herders. It is estimated that there are over 2,500 rock carvings, one of the largest concentrations of rock petroglyphs in Africa.

From the inland desert we made our way to the coast, exploring some side roads along the way. Beautiful and varied empty desert scenery and glorious weather made for fun driving.

Exploring some back roads in the desert

Beautiful site - we saw mountain zebras in the distance

We were thrilled with the site we found until we were visited in the morning by some local tour operators with a truck full of tourists. They were kind but informed us that we were not actually allowed to camp there and that we were at risk by being robbed by local villagers. We were not sure what to make of this, not having seen a soul for miles but thanked them for their concern and packed up.

Our next stop was the Skeleton Coast National Park which although bleakly beautiful did not offer up the miles of derelict shipwrecks we were expecting. On the upside, most of them have been cleaned up and the wrecks have not been recurring. You must enter and exit the park in the same day, driving through does not cost anything.

We never saw the coastal lions

Stopping for a walk at one of the few remaining wrecks

We had a pleasant and scenic day, even wore our coats for the first time in months. We exited the park and decided to go visit the seals at Cape Cross Seal Reserve. We have never seen so many seals in our lives. The smell was off the charts, but it was still fun to watch their antics.

Cape Cross Seal reserve

Just us and the seals

Before we started smelling like 10,000’s of seals, we drove down the coast to a great wild camping spot north of Swakopmund.

Coastal wild camping spot outside of Swakopmund

We took care of some business in Swakopmund, including having a tire repaired (slow leak from a ripped side wall from the Angolan desert drive), stocking up on groceries and gas. The town felt like a standard tourist town, lots of amenities, shopping and tourism operators but didn’t feel like a place we wanted to stay long.

We headed inland to the tallest peaks in Namibia at Brandberg National Monument.

Road in to Brandberg, highest peaks in Namibia

Another well run tourist site, we were greeted at the entrance and assigned a guide to walk us in to see the famous White Lady rock paintings. Our guide was from Damaraland, a native San who spoke the Khoisan language. He demonstrated for us the famous clicking language -it sounded like music. He explained that recent studies theorize that the ancient language was likely the first form of oral language with some of the clicking sounds gradually being replaced by words over time.

Famous “White Lady” rock painting (actually a man)

More glorious sunny weather finished with cultural sites for the time being and we were off to Spitzkoppe, renowned rock formations rising out of the desert.

The bumpy road to Spitzkoppe

Wandering around the Spitzkoppe formations

And then back to the coast. We were happy to have the guides and information at the cultural sites, but we were hoping we could find our way into Sandwich Harbor on our own. Amazing dunes on the coast, numerous four by four operators offered to drive people in for a hefty fee. We thought it would be more funt to go on our own, but we had heard of challenges, including vehicles being swept away by incoming tides.

Walvis Bay felt like one of the most touristy spots we had been in a long time. Outdoor operators and expensive cafes lined streets along with B&Bs and guest houses. We went for a walk, watched the coastal flamingos then decided to see if we could drive to Sandwich Harbor. It was a big “no.”

The point we turned back on the road to Sandwich Harbor, we are just too heavy.

So we left the coast to explore our last two iconic natural wonders in Namibia.

Despite its decrepit state, one of the most photographed signs in Namibia

Sossusvlei is one of Namibia's most spectacular landmarks with its red dunes and the white salt pan at Deadvlei.

Completely unedited phone photo - the scenery was extraordinary

It was hot - we were tempted to share the shade with the oryx

Another area with a requirement to exit by sunset, we left Sossusvlei to find some wild camping. Spending many nights in camp grounds with people around was getting to us and were looking for some privacy and space. We found our spot at Brukkaros Crater, solitary hiking and camping with a view for miles.

Hiking into Brukkaros Crater

Attempting to tuck out of the wind by an abandoned structure

And then our final stop in this engaging, young country - Fish River Canyon. Another site with no access out of daylight hours (unless you are doing a multi-day arduous through hike) we drove in and wandered along the canyon’s edge.

Parked at the edge of Fish River Canyon

Impressive as the sun goes down

Namibia was an easy break after six months of much more challenging travel down the West Coast. It reminded us of our trip to Botswana years before when we had been one of the many tourists in rented trucks with a roof top tent. That first trip to Africa was when we realized how easy and fun it was to travel overland.

But we were still thinking back with wonder on the adventure of being the only tourists for 100’s of miles as a contrast to Namibia where we were among the many. There are benefits to both and we are lucky to have experienced many aspects of overlanding in Africa. Next up, South Africa, and looking forward to a break at home in Oregon with family and friends while the truck gets some much needed maintenance in a Cape Town offroad shop. Thank you for reading and coming along on this journey with us!

 

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

Do you lower the air pressure( tires) for the sand to aid in traction and flotation?

 

[tacototheworld]

Do you lower the air pressure( tires) for the sand to aid in traction and flotation?

Yes! We run 45/50 psi on the front/rear on the highway. But when we know we’re heading for an hour or more on gravel roads we drop the pressure by 1/3 to 30/34 to smooth out the ride. If we’re to tackle some serious mud or deep sand then we’ll drop it another 1/3 to 15/17 psi. We’ve found that by doing this creates an amazing change. Going from 21-22 psi to 15 changes the driving from plowing using lots of power thru the sand to simply floating. We dont have beadlock rims and have not had any problems doing this

 

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

It makes a huge difference, I could not tell in the pictures and did not remember reading it prior. Thanks for the reply. Happy Wandering!

 

[tacototheworld]

Chilikadrotna River Expedition, Alaska - Part 1


Time for Something Completely Different.
Warning! Our Tacoma is not involved in this post!

After six months of overland travel in West Africa, we were missing family and ready for a break. So we left the truck in Cape Town for some care and maintenance and returned to Bend, Oregon to be with family. And then, because we can never keep things simple, we wedged a remote river float in Alaska into our time at home. Luckily our awesome kids took on the planning so we just needed to get ourselves and our gear together.

The fantastic floaters: Nick, Claire, Trevor, Nathan, Dawn, Alex, Colin, Andy, Nicholas

Our group of nine people included the two of us, our three kids Nicholas, Trevor, and Claire, and their friends Nick, Alex, Nathan and Colin. It was a terrific group - strong in bringing a sense of humor through the hard times and all willing to pitch in at full force when needed. We couldn’t have hoped for a better crew to float with.

Yellow line shows our 85-mile route, which we floated over 8 days, 7 nights

Trip Preparation

The gear list was the most complicated that we have gathered for any excursion to date. We were being dropped by float planes into remote Lake Clark National Park, so not only would we not see any infrastructure or other people for a week, but we also had to abide by strict weight limits imposed by the capacity of the planes.

Rafts, oars, and frames ready to go

Dry bags offloaded from the first plane onto the beach where we were putting in. Nathan and Colin feeling the start of the adventure.

Group Gear

Misc

• Fishing gear (rods, reels, tackle)
  
  
• 12-gauge with slugs and buckshot
  
  
• 44 magnum pistol with chest harness
  
  
• Bear spray
  
  
• Phone-size dry box (if you want your phone/electronics on the boat)

Navigation/Communication
In addition to cell phones with maps of the area downloaded, we carried two dedicated navigation devices - Dawn and Andy’s Garmin inReach which had GPS tracking and an emergency SOS feature, and Alex’s newer model which worked with his phone. Disturbingly, they often did not agree when asked to provide our current GPS coordinates. As a backup, we carried paper topo maps.

Although we did take firearms (a Sig 40 cal, a Desert Eagle 44 mag, and a Beretta 12 gauge shotgun), we never needed them. We saw grizzly tracks and scat but no bears. We floated by several mother-calf pairs of moose, but none of them acted aggressively toward us.

Packing all the food from the early morning Costco run into three coolers - including dry ice in one
With everyone on board the three planes, we took off for one of the most scenic flights of our lives. We wound through Lake Clark Pass, soaring past glaciers and bumping our way through stomach-clenching turbulence just under a low cloud layer.

Lake Clark Pass from the air

The magnificent Alaska Range

Twin Lakes dead ahead!
Day One - Camp at Lower Twin Lake

The first fish of the trip are caught

Everyone tucked in for the night - photo at 11pm, it doesn’t get dark in June in Alaska
Day Two - Crossing the Lake, Hiking, Camping at the River Mouth

Despite the gorgeous scenery, we were trying to travel a daily average of about 15 river miles so we launched the boats with a sense of adventure and anticipation.

The short rowing day turned into a long slog across Lower Twin Lake (fortunately aided by constant strong winds), but everyone maintained their cheerfulness. Even the rowers.

The hardcore hikers setting off up the peak. Some of us rested in the bush with our Kindles.

We started off worried about bears, but due to a freakishly late spring, the salmon were not present and so neither were the bears. Never fired a gun except for some evening target practice.

Long hard row across an increasingly choppy lake (about 4 hours)

Made it across the lake, setting up camp at the river mouth

Overall, finding spots to camp was relatively easy. But we were really glad we stopped at this particular location at the mouth of the river as the next morning we noticed there were not any places for the next few hours. But for the rest of the trip, it seemed that there were suitable places about every 30-45 minutes.

Grizzly paw compared to Andy’s extra large hands on one of our river island camp sites

Our spot at the river mouth had a great fishing hole! Nathan, our trip wildlife biologist and talented photographer, here with his first fish, an Arctic grayling.

Day Three - Entering the Chilikadrotna River

We needed to make up some miles from our short distance float and hike the previous day and the river cooperated. Splashy and fast, the river moved us along at top speeds of 5-6 miles per hour with a strong downriver wind. The Class I-II water was easy to navigate.

Sweepers (overhead trees and bushes) and strainers (underwater logs and brambles) were ever-present but nothing we couldn’t navigate.

It was a great day zipping along the upper stretch of the river, good spirits abounded and the scenery was spectacular. We were slowly pulling away from our mountain views but we still felt their majestic presence.

The water was beautifully clear the entire trip.

Day Four - Moving Along the River, More Fish
.

Alex with his first fish, a rainbow trout. By far our most cheerful trip member, our eternal optimist and voted most photogenic by the group.

Trevor, iconic rolling stone - always planning the next adventure and the instigator of the annual Alaska water trip.

 

[tacototheworld]

Chilikadrotna River Expedition, Alaska - Part 2

The fishing was a minor disappointment for us. In planning the trip we were trying to balance weather, mosquitos and fishing season. We hit the right balance with reasonable weather and a lack of mosquitos. But we missed on the salmon run. Due to a late season, the salmon were not running. So the fish we caught were more scarce than we expected and hard fought for.

Breaking out the kitchen rain canopy for the first time. Learning the intricacies of cooking over an open fire.


Day Five - More Splashy Water, First Mosquitos and First Moose

Nicholas making good use of those last minute waders

Bachelor boat, living it up

Cow and calf in the water! Photo credit: Nathan Tallman


Day Six - Sweepers and River Debris

The river was still splashy but slowing down somewhat. The big snowy peaks had disappeared and were replaced with forests and green rounded hills. We had not encountered any technical rapids or difficulties despite there being rumors of some Class III. The water felt high so we assumed they were washed out.

But as we headed downriver, there were more instances of the river splitting into multiple channels and last minute judgment calls required to choose the way. There was also more debris blocking some routes. Sweepers and log jams were common.

The channel we did not take

Then we hit our first major road block. A cottonwood had fallen across the main channel. Nicholas’s boat was swept right into it, and the force of the river pressing the raft against the tree almost flipped it (the “high side” alert definitely worked as 450 lbs of human beings jumped on the high side to right the boat). We pulled over and began the rescue, which culminated in Nicholas cutting away the tree with a saw so we could all pass by.

One of the first time for us as rafters that moving quickly to the raft’s high side prevented a potential flipping.

But the river challenges were not over for the day. Next obstacle: a larger spruce blocking the main channel with logs and debris blocking a secondary, shallow channel. Inspection of the spruce led to the conclusion that our saw was not up to the task so we cleared the debris in the secondary channel and dragged the boats through the shallow water.

Downed spruce blocking the main channel

Clearing the debris

Dragging the boats through

Successful teamwork! There is a beautiful sense of camaraderie that comes with knowing you are the only people for 100’s of miles and are relying on each other to overcome an obstacle.

Time for a river lunch. Cleaning up the last of the food, Alex opted for a peanut butter and trail mix burrito


Day Seven

Our last full day on the river! Some of us are feeling melancholy, some are looking forward to that hot shower. But activities continued, never a dull moment on the river.

Time old river tradtion, rock skipping

Some last sweepers tried to get us

Tracking our GPS location carefully, we opted to camp about a mile before our pick up spot. We were not sure what the camping would be like at the take out. (We were told “sometimes there is a gravel bar.”)


Day Eight - Take Out and return to Anchorage

A quick 20 minute mile on the river and we arrived at the point that all of our devices agreed was the right place to meet our planes at 2pm. Turns out it was a reasonably large gravel island. We deflated rafts, re-packed all our stuff, used up the rest of our ammo with a shooting competition, and breathed big collective sighs of relief when we saw the planes overhead.

The best way to deflate a raft

The targets . . . Yes, we used a Target bag

The game (Nicholas won)

Time to load up the Cessna 206s

And off we go, looking back along the Chilikadrotna. It treated us well.

Flying over beautiful Lake Clark

And back to Lake Hood

It was one of those adventures of a lifetime that we will hold in our hearts. The combination of the stunning scenery, the remoteness, the wildlife and the company was unmatched. We are grateful to our travel companions for literally taking some of the weight from our 60-something-year-old bodies, and for the joyful spirit everyone brought. This blog is different from our overland journey ones but we hope this writeup may be helpful to any others contemplating a similar trip. Happy to answer any follow up questions and thank you for reading!

 

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

I loved my time working in Remote Alaska, and miss it at times. I gained a lot of experience, good stories, and family where I started as a stranger. It gets into your soul. Thanks for sharing!

 

[tacototheworld]

Indeed! I've always wanted to live in Alaska. Was very sad to leave

 

[rtwBound]

What an adventure! quick question, what kind of suspension were you running in the rear? Did you have air bags or heavyweight leaf springs (or both). That's crazy that the welds broke! Glad they got you guys sorted and hopefully it doesn't happen again! I've had the frame crack on my Tacoma so I know the feeling!

 

[tacototheworld]

South Africa - part 1

Cape Agulhas - very southern tip of Africa

Arriving in South Africa was a continuation of the journey we started in Namibia of re-entering into travel with easily accessible modern conveniences after six months in West Africa. We continued to experience both a sense of wonder at how easy it was to find resources and information, and a sense of loss, missing the heartbeat of West Africa.

Our 3,200 mile, four week route

The economic leader on the continent, South Africa is a microcosm of everything Africa has to offer. Cape Town is a gorgeous cosmopolitan city set on the ocean surrounded by mountains and a world class wine industry. The enormous Kruger National Park boasts one of the largest populations of African wildlife, and traditional tribal arts and culture are represented nationally, from the San to the Xhosa to the Zulu. The country’s basic infrastructure - roads, power, water, cell coverage, shopping - is more developed than other African country’s despite inadequate electricity resources causing load shedding right now (scheduled daily power outages).

View of Cape Town waterfront with Table Mountain as a backdrop. As locals say, it was wearing it’s tablecloth.

Our first real destination in South Africa was Cape Town where we had a lot of business to take care of. The plan was to deep clean the truck inside and out, drop it off at an offroad shop for much needed maintenance, then fly home to Oregon to visit family. So we opted for an Airbnb.

But we still found time to have fun. Climbing Table Mountain on a clear day.

In general, we thought Cape Town was one of the most beautiful and interesting big cities we have been to. The setting on the coast, surrounded by mountains and beaches is stunning. The city itself feels alive and vibrant.

Finding penguins in Simon’s Town
We have not really addressed race in our prior African blogs. Throughout West Africa we were often the only tourists and only white people we saw for days. It did not factor into our experience other than the fact that we were always really obvious. As we learned the history of the countries we visited, we appreciated peoples’ honesty in describing the effect of white colonialism and the slave trade. We felt like we could have real conversations. It is really sobering to think deeply about all these young 40-60 year old nations struggling to figure out a path to prosperity after centuries of colonialism.

For us, being white in South Africa held an additional layer of awareness than in West Africa. The country’s very recent eradication of the apartheid system weighed heavily on us. We continued to be surprised and encouraged by the warmth of the welcome from people, but it was not the same as in West Africa.

In our conversations with South Africans, both black and white, it was clear the the discussion around race is constant and honest, people are working to find a way. People we spoke to wish for a corruption free democracy. We took some time to visit important sites related to the work of Nelson Mandela (his home, location of his first speech, Robben Island) and were impressed and amazed by the wisdom and generosity of spirit he brought to his reconciliation work as the first president of a free South Africa after apartheid.

Painting of Nelson Mandela on building in District Six, an area where 60,000 residents were forcibly removed to outside the city during the apartheid regime.

Realizing that our Airbnb was in a predominantly white area, we decided to visit a black township to broaden our cultural understanding and experience. Dawn had been to Khayulitsha on a previous visit to Cape Town with our daughter who had spent time as a volunteer there. The idea of the tour can be bizarre - if thought of as wealthy tourists engaging in poverty voyeurism. But in fact the tours are strategically organized by savvy residents who make sure to highlight the important work being done by community activitists, entrepreneurs and non-profits to improve the infrastructure and lives of the residents.

Despite the majority of people living in converted shipping containers with minimal resources, art and individuality shine through in addition to a strong sense of supportive community.

Our guide was an artist and photographer. He described the difficulties of getting from the township into Cape Town to go to work or further his education. He would take a bus into college classes but transportation could be haphazard, making him late and giving teachers and fellow students the excuse to look down on him for being from Khayelitsha. The train that used to operate into the city had broken down years ago and the tracks had been taken over and blocked by informal settlement housing.

Township mural depicting a wife during the apartheid years, looking to the horizon and hoping her husband will return safely

Visiting Storyroom Creatives, young artists providing after school programming for school children.

And as a contrast, the predominantly white town of Stellenbosch

We returned to find that our truck was not quite ready so headed off to Stellenbosch to taste some South African wines.
We were thrilled to move back in to our cozy home on wheels and hit the road again. But all was not rosy. Heading toward the Garden Route, we started hearing strange noises. Andy dropped Dawn off at Dylan Lewis’s sculpture garden (thank you cousin Helen for that recommendation) and returned to the shop.

Despite the rain, Dawn had a great time exploring Dylan Lewis’s amazing gardens filled with his sculptures

For Dawn it was a highlight and she took many more pictures but we will not subject you to them all

Andy returned from the shop with no clear diagnosis but some more things tightened up and checked. So we hit the road again. Unfortunately, 30 miles out of Cape Town we heard a huge clunk, a shudder and next thing we know our rear tire was rolling out ahead of us on the highway.

oops

Apparently after re-building the suspension and re-mounting the tires, the shop neglected to adequately tighten the lug nuts

Andy saw that three of the studs had sheared, he found two of them alongside the road with the nuts only hand tight

On the upside, more time to explore Cape Town, more walking tours, museums and excellent food.

And then back on the road!! All bolts tightened, marked and double checked.

We made it to the southern most tip of the continent where two oceans meet

Beautiful coastal walk at Mossel Bay

We started along the coastal Garden Route but took a detour to head over the Oudtshoorn mountain pass to Prince Albert.

Heading into the Outdshoorn Mountain pass

Although not technically part of the Garden Route, this mountain drive was our favorite.

Beautifully maintained campground at Camdeboo NP

Desolation Valley, Camdeboo NP

Stay tuned for more

 

[ghostdancer]

My wife an I spent a month in SA in 2011 and would love to return for a longer visit. The country does seem to be backsliding politically into more corruption. We spent time in Cape Town, Hermanus, Franschouk, and 12 days in The Kruger. It was all amazing.

 

[tacototheworld]

Lesotho, South Africa-part 2, and Eswatina
LESOTHO

Nestled inside of South Africa is the high mountain tiny country of Lesotho. The king of the country, King Moshoeshoe had looked at what was happening with the Dutch Boers moving into South Africa and aligned himself with the English in 1868, becoming a protectorate to keep the the Dutch out. We were not quite sure what to expect but we had heard about the Sani Pass drive into the country being spectacular. It definitely was.

Road is getting steeper and rougher (now we know why they require 4x4)

Almost at the top!

We spent 5 minutes at customs and immigration at the top of the pass, were stamped in, paid $3 for the road tax and entered a whole new world.

Never have we seen such a stark contrast between two neighboring countries. The high mountain plateaus of Lesotho were dotted with traditional round houses made of stone. Shepherds walked the roads with sheep and cows. Villagers dressed in colorful blanket wraps to protect against the cold smiled and waved as we passed. Although an official language, English was not widely spoken by the people in rural areas. The primary tribe of the country, the Basotho speak Sesotho, which is the other official language.

Livestock share the road

Traditional stone round houses with thatch rooves

Our first snow in Africa!

We would go for long walks, admiring the homes and how they were built and decorated

Another camping spot at a traditional home site - grateful to iOverlander or we never would have found these places

We were falling in love with the country when disaster struck again. Driving through a rocky construction zone, another clunk and weird noise. Andy did his best to pull over and clearly the wheel was off.

Another oops from our Cape Town offroad shop - forgot to tighten the bolt on one of the upper control arms


SOUTH AFRICA- PART 2

And then we made our way back across the border to get fixed up again in Johannesburg. Luckily we found a shop that were willing to take us on and got us right again.
With some time to explore Johannesburg we took advantage of another walking tour - this time in Soweto.
Touring Soweto was very different from touring Khayelitsha. Soweto had a thriving tourism hub centered along the street where both Nelson Mandela and and Archbishop Desmond Tutu lived. People were selling souveneirs, performers were out and restaurants and bars lined the street. But our tour guide managed to separate us from all that and did an excellent job in grounding us in the gravity of the place and history.

Memorial to Hector Peterson, one of the youngest school children to be shot by the police and die on June 16, 1976 in the Soweto uprising. In the photo he is being carried by Mbuyisa Makhubu. On that day 15,000 school children marched to protest the new law that they be taught in Afrikaans. At least 600 children died that day.

Men from the San tribe performing on the street

Finally, we felt that the truck was fully travel worthy and we were ready to leave the urban centers of South Africa and make our way to Kruger National Park.
We were surprised that Kruger has a lot of water and it is a lot more spread out. Although there are water holes, most of the water is in a complex river system throughout the park. When we were there, some of the rivers were full of water and others had a trickle or pools and muddy spots.

Because of this, we had to cover more ground to find the animals, but they were there and we definitely found them. We spent a week in the park, generallly we made our way from the north down to the southern tip. Our first two nights were at Shingwedzi and it was probably our favorite camp. Camping was typical large national park style, a large field with trees. At Shingwedzi, you can pay more to camp along the fence but those sites were taken when we arrived.

It is not an inexpensive park. Fees for foreigners run $25 per person per day. Campgrounds start at about $20 a night. We made our bookings several months in advance but still could not get into some of the smaller, more intimate camping-only rest camps that we probably would have really enjoyed. But staying in the big sites meant we had access to laundry, restaurants with great views, lots of information sharing about animal sightings and we always got woken up in the mornings as fellow campers set out on their early morning game drives.

Our first leopard!

There is a magic to the wildlife search, driving along never knowing what is going to pop out of the bushes. We also had an exciting encounter with a very angry elephant who trumpeted out of the bush and charged at us. Luckily Andy punched the gas and we came away unscathed.

Cape Buffalo

Paid for a night drive so that we could be out after sunset - it paid off

One of our favorite experiences - watching the African wild dogs. Here they are ready to take off on a hunt.

We fell in love with hyenas in this park - we hadn’t seen any in past national park visits and Kruger definitely made up for this.

And on our last day - rhinos! Kruger makes the decision to cut off their horns to help discourage poaching.


ESWATINI

Another land locked country within the borders of South Africa, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) charmed us. We started off by seeking information on the Swazi tribal traditions. Mantenga Village is a well thought out cultural attraction designed for tourists, but also highly educational. It was a fascinating afternoon spent touring the village with a guide and watching traditional performances.

Male Swazi dancers

Similar to South Africa, Eswatini had many pleasant developed camp sites, with a wide variety of options.
Our final stop in Eswatini was Hlane National Park. We did our first walking safari there and it was incredible. It is different to see large animals on foot than from a car. Our two awesome guides were knowledgeable and interesting.

Walking safari at dusk at Hlane National Park

It was absolutely the best place to see rhinos that we have been. We would walk the scant wire fence around the campground (Dawn getting her walking in again) and see rhinos almost disturbingly close by. The water hole at the campground was also active with hippos, rhinos, giraffes . .

Unlike in Kruger National Park, the rhinos still have their horns. Our guide told us that in Eswatini they are committed to eradicating poachers to the point that they patrol every day and actually shoot them when they find them.

Well, we are happy to be back to what for us now feels like “real life,” living on the road. Every day is a new experience, we are still learning constantly and we are still grateful.

We like Nelson Mandela’s words of wisdom “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

Thank you for reading!

 

[tacototheworld]

What an adventure! quick question, what kind of suspension were you running in the rear? Did you have air bags or heavyweight leaf springs (or both). That's crazy that the welds broke! Glad they got you guys sorted and hopefully it doesn't happen again! I've had the frame crack on my Tacoma so I know the feeling!

Sorry for the late response. Since we intended to keep the camper on the flatbed full-time we opted for custom rear leaf springs from Deaver. They have been great and were designed to completely handle the heavy load. About every 25,000 miles or so we have to replace the bushings between the springs otherwise they become quite squeaky.

However, if we were more typical person who takes the camper off and on, we would’ve opted for a little bit heavier duty spring than OEM and supplemented them with airbags when mounting the camper.

Hope that helps.

 

[ITTOG]

Man, that shop is a disaster and its doors should be closed permanently. You probably have by now but I would check every bolt in the area's that shop worked on. What a disaster. That kind of puts a damper on the fun. Good job of making the best of it though.